Eric's home became an instant favorite when we shared his House Call submission with readers. Viewers swooned over the whimsical pops of color, the high tin ceilings and the overall quality of the historically preserved elements of the home. Housed in a converted convent along with ten other unique apartments, Eric has made this home his own through the use of a rotating collection of artwork, curated toy collection, and a low-profile minimalist aesthetic. Overall, Eric's modern style creates a curated contrast to the traditional character of the home.

Eric's decor choices are dictated primarily by his leanings toward the "less is more" design camp. Art collections and original details aside, the most noteworthy aspect of Eric's home might be the overall lack of furniture, and the fact that it works well! Rather than using a TV stand for the flatscreen television, or a bookshelf for books, Eric chooses to place items like these directly on the floor where furnishings might otherwise be redundant. By reinterpreting the use of a floor, Eric is essentially transforming it into a functional piece of furniture. The resulting low-profile complements and contradicts the very high ceilings, making the scale feel much larger than 702-square-feet.

The historic bones and other original elements of the home are what stood out most to house call readers, thanks mainly to the tin ceilings. The full house tour reveals the original 24-light chandelier as well, which is equally as astonishing. The floor was actually painted white due to a contractor's error, but it's kind of hard to imagine it being any other color at this point! (The other units that Eric has seen have natural wood-colored flooring, so he assumes that's what his was supposed to be. How it ended up white, we may never know!) Eric plays off of these original elements by introducing bursts of color and modern shapes; his sofa is an example of both. So while he laments the lack of usable wall space, it has forced him to express his taste in unconventional ways, thus creating an elegant contrast between the old and the new.

Biggest Embarrassment: Well, the flooring in my bathroom and bedroom… yikes. But my biggest problem with the apartment (and I realize what an asshole I sound like) is the lack of useable wall space to hang artwork. I collect new work pretty regularly, but because I have nowhere else to hang stuff, I have to use the one-in-one-out method (and most of my purchases live in storage as a consequence).

Proudest DIY: I’m not handy (and my lord certainly didn’t create me to do physical labor lol), so my proudest DIY is more of a “proudest repurpose.” A friend of mine in Chicago offered me access to her parents’ home, which contained a treasure trove of beautiful objects that had been curated over their lifetime together. There I found an art-like piece of wood—actually cork—that immediately became the centerpiece of my dining table. It sits atop a small slab of marble I salvaged from a dumpster shortly after.

Biggest Indulgence: Artwork. I’ve been really fortunate though, because at the prices I’ve acquired work for, it feels more lucky than “indulgent”.